Political Quotes

“I want to thank Chairman McCain for explaining the legislative intent of the provision and for making clear that this legislation does not allow the use of coercive interrogations by Federal law enforcement agencies. I would also like to ask the Senator for his view on one additional change made to the anti-torture provision in the conference process. The Senate bill required the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with other specified officials, to review the Army Field Manual for update and revision. The Senate bill required this to be completed within a year from the date of enactment and once every 3 years thereafter. The conference report changes the timeline for that review, so that it occurs not sooner than 3 years from the date of enactment, and then every 3 years thereafter. Can the chairman of the committee clarify the reasoning behind that change? Mr. McCAIN. I thank the Senator for the question. There was a concern among the conferees that the Senate provision would not allow adequate time for the mandatory review, especially given the broadening of the application of the Army Field Manual to the rest of government. In light of this change, and the importance of the review, the conferees decided that 3 years was a more appropriate timeline. I would also like to clarify one point, as there has been some confusion.…”